Hoosier Schoolboy

Pretty school marm Mary Evans arrives in Ainsley Indiana but finds herself in the middle of a milk strike. Millionaire dairyman John Matthews has forced the price of milk so low, the local farmers are on the verge of losing their farms. One of her students, rebellious, belligerent Shockey Carter, is in trouble with the school board. Mary learns that the boy has been defending the honor of his shell-shocked war hero dad, now brutally mocked by the other kids. Mary comes to Shockey's defense, saving him from expulsion and even getting his dad a job with Matthew's dairy. But when his first assignment is driving Matthew's milk truck through a roadblock of angry shotgun-armed strikers, the old man faces certain death.

Beginning at the age of seven, Mickey Rooney starred in 78 Mickey McGuire comedies, starting in 1927 with Mickey's Circus, and continuing to 1936. In 1937, the same year he starred in Hoosier Schoolboy, he would appear in A Family Affair as Andy Hardy, the first of 14 films in the wildly successful series that would run until 1946. Director William Nigh started in film around 1913 as an actor, writer, producer, and editor but is best remembered as one of the few directors to work with the trinity of horror stars Chaney (Thunder, 1929), Karloff (Mr. Wong, Detective, 1930) and Lugosi (Black Dragons, 1942).

Set against the background of 1936's strike by midwestern milk farmers, this picture concerns a troubled young man who must battle his neighbors and classmates as they taunt and mock his drunken father. When his father gets his act together and begins driving a milk truck, tragedy eventually strikes, leaving the boy an orphan. As the school tries to expel him for his disruptive behavior, a new teacher understands his troubled situation and defends him. This was Rooney's first starring role, and the performance was mature and powerful enough to earn him a solid place on the screen for many years to come.